Not such a smooth ride

The first hurdle has been met and is yet to be overcome.

Today I have spent several hours browsing the internet trying to find a ferry crossing from Piraeus in Greece to Limassol in Cyprus. It appears that most if not all of the ferry companies have ceased business. Probably as a result of the problems in Israel. The ferry went on from Limassol to Israel you see. No point in starting out if we can't finish - it would be awful to be stuck in Greece with no way to get to Cyprus with the car.

Many thoughts and discussions later have raised a few options. 1) Drive to Greece then put the car on a container ship while we fly from Athens to Cyprus and pick it up at the other end. 2) Drive to Turkey via a different ferry and drive down to southern Cyprus from the north or 3) Have our European trip but change it to a circular trip and come back to the UK where we can put the car in the same container as our other possessions and have the lot shipped over together to Cyprus. We can then fly over and meet them when they arrive.

1) would appear to be very expensive and involve masses of paperwork.
2) we will have to find out about the Turkish ferries and if a car is allowed over the border between north and south Cyprus.
3) seems a long winded way of doing it although may end up to be the most economical in the long run.

On a different topic I have started to clear out some of our bits and bobs. I joined the freecycle network in our area and advertised a selection of things that we will not need in our new life but that don't have any particular resale value - hose pipes, UK walking maps and books, plumbing and building bits from the garage etc. They were snapped up thankfully and will go to good homes where they will continue to be used rather than committing them to the dump.